AARP Hearing Center
AARP (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Diane Farr, 55, isn’t afraid to speak out about Hollywood age disparities. The Numb3rs and Rescue Me actor wrote an Entertainment Weekly article in February calling out casting choices that lead to fewer roles for older actresses. “Age parity — hiring women who are the age a character is written, and within the same decade as their male costar — has yet to become a standard in film and TV,” she wrote.
Farr tells AARP that she was nervous about what reaction she might receive, but says, “The response was everything I could have hoped. People were saying, ‘Yes, I think this all the time. I think how annoying it is when someone looks like a parent and child, rather than lovers.’”
In the CBS drama Fire Country, which returns Oct. 18 for Season 3, Farr is part of an onscreen romantic couple with actor Billy Burke, 57, playing married fire chiefs. We spoke with Farr about how she’s handling the physical demands of the job, how it felt to direct her first episode and how she challenges herself to prioritize having fun.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Congratulations on your directorial debut [Fire Country episode "Welcome to the Cult" airs Nov. 1]. How did that go?
Strangely, everyone says, “Oh, you know how to talk to actors, you’ll be fine.” And that was the thing I was the most worried about, because I’ve sat in judgment for 25 years. If the director doesn’t prepare, [actors are] treated like cattle, and our days get very long. I just didn’t want to waste anyone’s time. So, that was what I was most preoccupied with, and that went fine. I was prepared enough and nobody stayed late.
You're also a writer [Farr has written two books, The Girl Code: The Secret Language of Single Women and Kissing Outside the Lines: A Story of Love and Race and Happily Ever After]. What do you feel more close to?
When I’m acting on a series, I really miss writing. When I’m home writing for four months, I miss the people and the activity of a set. They are very cleansing for me to do in tandem. The reason I’ve never pursued directing is because I write. And it wasn’t until I was in [show] prep that I realized that 30 years of writing books and for magazines and newspapers was the most helpful thing to me in directing. Because, at the end of the day, I’m there to advocate for the script. Yes, there’s a lens, yes it’s visual, but when you actually make your show it is about understanding that story and getting that story out. That was the part that was thrilling — that I realized my writing was going to help me more than maybe even being an actor for a couple of decades.
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